Baseball gloves



Nov. l, 1955 w. T. ToMPKlNs 2,722,007

BASEBALL lGLOVES Filed May 29 1951 ATTORNEYS United States Patent()BASEBALL GLOVES Walter T. Tompkins, Nocona, Tex., assignor to NoconaLeather Goods Company, Nocona, Tex., a corporation of Texas ApplicationMay 29, 1951, Serial No. 228,953

Claims. (Cl. 2--19) This invention relates to gloves and particularly tothe type of glove widely utilized by baseball players in the game ofbaseball.

The modern baseball glove is universally fabricated of leather and is ofsubstantial size and weight as it is necessary to construct the glove insuch manner that the baseball may be easily caught and to provide thehand of the wearer with a covering of substantial thickness in order toprovide adequate protection against bruising and other injury whichwould otherwise result when the relatively heavy ball is to be stoppedwhen moving at high speed. The most suitable and commonly used type ofbaseball glove is, in the average case, so much larger than the hand ofthe player who uses it that the player frequently has diiculty retainingthe glove in proper position upon his hand, the opening provided for thepassage of the players hand and wrist customarily being very much largerthan is necessary to accommodate the players wrist alone. A hard hit orhard thrown ball may actually knock the glove oi of the players hand.

' It has, of course, been proposed that various retaining devices may beemployed for the purpose of adequately securing gloves of various typesupon the hands of their Vwearers, adjustable wrist bands, for instance,being provided for this purpose. The present invention relatesparticularly to a baseball glove which is providedwith a vnoveladjustable wrist strap which has been found to be particularly effectivefor the purpose intended, being Vcapable of maintaining, when properlyadjusted, the baseball glove in proper position upon the hand of thewearer despite blows, or actions on the part of the player which wouldotherwise displace it.

The novel and improved adjustable securing means is applied to a glovewhich has any conventional type of baseball glove body provided that theglove body includes a wrist'piece of -the type which is positioned toextend -across the back of the players wrist. The improved wrist .strapis supported in part by this wrist piece, being disposed between twoplies of the wrist piece. One end of 4the wrist strap'is connected tothe lining of the gloveand the other end extends to the exterior of theglove body, where that end may be grasped by the player for the purposeof adjustment. The strap thus bridges or extends across the relativelylarge aperture defined by the glove lining and the wrist piece andforms, with the lining and the wrist piece, an aperture of less crosssectional area, the cross sectional area being made exactly the same asthat of the wrist of the wearer, the glove lining, wrist piece and wriststrap together forming a wrist encircling band which may be caused toclosely engage the wearers wrist. In the accompanying drawings oneembodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example. l In thedrawings:

Figure l shows in perspective a typical baseball glove,

4'as seen from a point in rear of the base of the glove, so

that the aperture into which the player inserts hisrhand 'is prominentlyshown; x

Figure 2 is a top plan view of portion of the glove, show- 2,722,007Patented Nov. 1, 1955` "ics ing the wrist piece partially broken away inorder that the wrist strap may be more clearly observed;

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the wrist strap.

It will not be necessary to describe in detail all of the features ofthe glove, which is generally indicated at G,

` since many of these features may be modified or varied at will andhave no bearing upon the present invention. It may be said, however,that the glove shown is of the ytype which includes separate fingers andthumb, that the thumb is indicated at 10 in the drawings and isconnected to the first finger 11 by means of a web member 12. Theaperture through which the player inserts his hand when putting on theglove is clearly shown in Figures l and 3 and may be said to be definedby the leather sheet 13 which may be designated a lining member for thepalm of the glove, and the wrist piece generally indicated at 14.v Thesheet 13 is backed, at the heel of the glove, by padding indicated at15, interposed between that sheet and the palm piece 16.

The wrist piece 14 includes an upper ply 18 and a lower ply 19, theupper ply being in the nature of an extension of the outer coveringsheet member 20, it being understood that the outer covering of theglove comprises a plurality of sheets of leather stitched together, suchas sheets 16 and 20. The lower ply 19 of the wrist piece is preferably atongue-like member, the outer or free end of which is closely adjacentthe outer free end of the upper ply 18. There is formed in the lower ply19 of the wrist piece, at a point spaced from the free end thereof, aslot which extends transversely of the wrist piece and which is ofsuficient width to accommodate the wrist strap. The slot thus dividesthe lining 19 of the wrist piece into two por tions, that portion whichis remote from the free end of the wrist piece being designated 19a.

The wrist strap 1s, as clearly shown in Figure 4, formed in twoportions,v a generally rectangular portion 22a and a terminal portionwhich comprises two thongs or laces 22b which are integral extensions ofthe major portion 22a. That end of the major portion 22a of the wriststrap which is remote from the thongs 2212 is irmly attached to thelining 13 of the glove by stitching indicated at 24 (Figure 3) and theopposite end of this body portion is disposed within the flat tubularpassage intermediate and defined by the upper and lower plies 18 and 19aof the attached end of the wrist piece, the strap passing through thetransverse slot formed in the lower plyjof the wrist piece, as shown inFigure 3. The strap is therefore, so to speak, snubbed at this point, orconstrained -to pass around the edge of the lining ply 19a at the slot,and to -be guided thereby. The thongs 22b at the free or unattached endof the body portion 22a of the wrist strap project through aperturesinthe outer sheet of the glove body, which apertures are protected byeyelets 21, and are tied together exteriorly of the glove as shown inthe drawings.

rlhe portion 19a of the lower ply 19 of the wrist piece is adapted toengage the back of the wristof'the. wearer of the glove and the wriststrap is longitudinally slidable through the at tubular channel definedby this portion 19a of the lower ply of the wrist piece and the upperply 18' thereof so that the wearer, after having placed the glove inposition upon his hand, may tighten the wrist strap by applying tensionito tlieprotruding ends of the laces or thongs 22b, this tensioningcausing theV wrist strap to closelyengagel'one side vofthewearefs wrist,drawing the lining 13 upwardly into contact with the undersurfaceclosely engaged by an encircling-band and 'the glove thuis secured uponhis hand in such manner as to avoid all possibility of accidental loss.It may, of course, be easily released by untying the thongs. v

While the wrist strap of the glove has been described as capable ofbeing tightened to-such an extent as to closely engage the wrist of thewearer, it will be understood that in many cases the wearer will desireonly to tighten the strap to such extent that the sidewise movement ofthe wrist within the wrist opening will be restricted, not preventedentirely, so as to avoid the untying and retying of the .strap each timethe glove is removed or put on. When such an adjustment is to be madethe wearer will select that position of the strap that is most suitableto his needs, i. e. to confine the wrist sufficiently closely to preventinadvertent dislodgment of the glove, yet sutliciently loose to permitthe hand to be inserted therethrough and removed therefrom, and allowthe strap to remain in that position of adjustment until there is reasonto make a change.

It will be appreciated that the apertures formed in the outer coveringof the glove for the passage of the thongs or laces may be located atvarious distances from the free end of the wrist piece but, when locatedin the approximate positions in which they are shown in the drawings,the knot formed by the tying together of the projecting thongs isadvantageously located.

The invention is of great simplicity and may be embodied in baseballgloves which vary substantially in details of design. In each instance,however, the wrist strap is in cooperative relationship with the wristpiece of the glove, substantially in the manner shown in the drawings.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A baseball glove having a body comprising a padded front portion anda back portion secured together to provide finger and thumb stallshaving adjacent open ends, vsaid back portion being formed to provideside marginal portions between which is exposed, at least in part, theback of the hand of one wearing the glove, a wrist piece extending fromthe lower edge of one marginal portion to the other to overlie the wristof the wearer, said glove body being of substantially greater width thanthe hand of the wearer and forming with said wrist piece an elongatedaperture for the passage of the hand of the wearer, and within which thewearers wrist is disposed when the glove is in use, and a wrist strapextending transversely across said elongated aperture, intermediately ofthe ends thereof, from said body to said wrist piece and definingwith'said wrist piece and adjacent areas of said body, a wrist receivingaperture which is smaller in area than said elongated aperture, andmeans for anchoring said wrist 'strap in its transversely extendingposition.

2. A baseball glove comprising a body including a shell and a lining inthe shell, said shell having spaced side marginal portions partlydefining a hand opening substantially the width of said body, said bodybeing substantially wider than the hand of a player wearing the glove, awrist piece secured to said shell extending from one side margin to theother across said hand opening, a wrist strap adjusting the effectivewidth of the hand opening, said wrist strap including a'sling portion inthe hand opening between said wrist piece and lining and having twoanchoring portions for said sling portion, one of said anchoringportions being in said body and the other anchoring portion adjustablein said wrist strap for tightening and slackening said sling portion inthe hand opening, and a fastening knot for said adjustable anchoringportion for fixing the latter in adjusted position, said sling portionbeing located substantially a hands breadth from the thumb side of thehand opening and inwardly of the side margin of the little Vfinger side.

3. A baseball glove having a glove body comprising a padded frontportion and a back portion secured together to provide finger and thumbstalls having adjacent open ends, said back portion being formed toprovide side marl il Cil

ginal portions between which is exposed, at least in part, the back ofthe hand of one wearing the glove, a wrist piece extending from one saidmarginal portion to the other to overlie the wrist of the wearer, aportion of said wrist piece being formed as a fiat tube, said wristpiece and said glove body together defining an elongated aperture forthe passage of the hand of one wearing the glove and within which thewearers wrist is disposed when the glove is in use, and a wrist strapextending transversely across said aperture intermediately of the endsthereof from said body portion to said wrist piece, and defining withsaid wrist piece and adjacent areas of the glove body a wrist receivingaperture which is smaller in area than said elongated aperture, saidwrist strap in part being within said flat tube defined by said wristpiece, means securing one end of said wrist strap to said glove body,the opposite end thereof comprising thongs extending outwardly from saidfiat tube for tying the wrist strap to the glove body.

4. A baseball glove having a glove body comprising a padded frontportion and a back portion secured together to provide finger and thumbstalls having adjacent open ends, said back portion being formed toprovide side marginal portions between which is exposed, at least inpart, the back of the hand of one wearing the glove, a wrist pieceextending from one side marginal portion to the other to overlie thewrist of the wearer, said glove body being substantially wider than thehand of the wearer and together with said wrist piece defining anelongated aperture for the passage of the hand of the wearer and withinwhich the wearers wrist is disposed when the glove is in use, a meansfor aiding the wearer to retain the glove on his hand comprising a wriststrap at one end fixed to the glove body and extending from the body tosaid wrist piece, intermediate the ends of said elongated aperture, at apoint to position the strap alongside the little finger side of thewrist of the wearer, said wrist strap defining with said wrist piece andadjacent areas of said glove body a wrist receiving aperture which issmaller in area than said elongated aperture, the other end of saidwrist strap being anchored to said glove in position thereon to retainsaid wrist strap in said position alongside the wrist of the wearer.

5. A baseball glove having a glove body comprising a padded frontportion and a back portion secured together to provide finger and thumbstalls having adjacent open ends, said back portion being formed toprovide side marginal portions between which is exposed, at least inpart, the back of the hand of one wearing the glove, a wrist pieceextending from one side marginal portion to the other to overlie thewrist of the wearer, said glove body being substantially wider than thehand of the wearer and together with said wrist piece defining anelongated hand opening for the passage of the hand of the wearer andwithin which the wearers wrist is disposed when the glove is in use, ameans for aiding the wearer to retain the glove on his hand comprising awrist strap, including a sling portion, at one end fixed to the glovebody and extending from the body to said wrist piece, intermediate theends of said elongated hand opening, at a point to position the saidsling portion alongside the little finger side of the wrist of thewearer, said wrist strap defining with said wrist piece and adjacentareas of said glove body a hand opening smaller in area than saidelongated hand opening, said wrist strap being adjustably anchored onsaid glove for tightening and slackening said sling portion inthe saidhand opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,008,911 Hoegren Nov. 14, 1.911 1,456,580 suuivan May 29, 19231,562,603 Turner Nov. 24, 1925 1,819,048 T111 Aug. 1s, 1931

